A Secret of Her Past
by Epitome of Bold
Summary: He never knew this much about her. He never cared...that is, until he learned this. Derek/Casey- oneshot.


A/n: This is in response to the challenge from Ghostwriter. I am sorry it took so long to get this on the site, but for a while it wasn't working and the disk must have had some issues… Well, I had to retype it, but before I could do that, I had to find the draft I had of it. That took awhile considering the state of my bedroom… Well, finally, here it is. So, Casey and Derek are seniors and Lizzie is what, umm maybe 12 or 13? I don't know.

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**"A Secret of Her Past"**

Derek woke from a deep sleep by the urge to get a drink. Without thinking twice, he stood up and started towards the kitchen. He tripped over a pair of shows he left by his bed and fell, making a some-what loud noise. A loud, long string of very colorful words were said, and he prayed that no one had woken at the unearthly sound, seeing as it was about two in the morning.

After a few minutes of waiting to ensure that no one was bothered, he opened his door and headed down the hall. He suddenly heard muffled cries get louder with each step towards the stairs. Upon stopping where he thought the noise was the loudest, he turned his head and notice them coming from Casey's room.

Derek bent down and peered through the keyhole. He saw her clutching her pillow and sobbing as she rocked back and forth. The rocking reminded him of a boy at school who was traumatized at a young age. When he was scared he would rock back and forth hugging himself to prevent bad from happening, as if he could keep himself safe by protecting himself.

Derek silently crept toward Lizzie's room. She might know what to do. Derek opened the door with a creak and saw that Lizzie turned over to see who was coming in.

"Derek, what the—"

"Look, Lizzie, sorry I woke you, but I just heard Case in her room crying. Do you know what's up?" Derek asked desperately.

"Why would I know?" Lizzie asked sleepily and yawning.

"Well, you're her sister so I thought you could find out."

"Yeah, well, you're her step-brother. You can find out, too. Only if you drop the jerk-y cover. I'm going back to sleep," Lizzie said finally.

"I guess I never thought of that," Derek said to himself under his breath.

Derek contemplated minding his own business and being his usual jerky-self. If he was the jerk, he wouldn't need to explain anything the next morning, when Casey would be fully aware, but then he wouldn't get the benefit of talking to Casey without arguing.

He finally made up his mind, and got all jerky thoughts out of his system.

Derek had finally remembered his thirst and headed downstairs to get a drink and figure out a plan. Of course, he couldn't just barge into her room and demand to know what the hell her problem was. That would have been Jerky Derek's solution, but the nicer Derek needed to think like a real civilized human.

He opened up the refrigerator and pulled the milk down from the top shelf. He took off the lid and proceeded to just pour it into his mouth from the container; no need for a glass.

He sat down at the table and brought the container closer to his mouth and accidentally spilled it onto his chest and onto his boxers because he was too preoccupied with what to do.

"Oh, shit," Derek swore up and down after grabbed a towel and wiping the milk from his body and the table.

Since his head was already on the subject of Casey, he could just hear her exact voice in his head, scolding him for not being better with his language. Derek let out a soft low chuckle at the lengths of his imagination.

He couldn't deny the oncoming feeling of nervousness and fear along with its companions, worry, embarrassment, and stress. As he put away the milk and headed for the stairs, then following the route to Casey's room, he felt like all the milk and anything in his stomach would suddenly come up while he reached to knock on her door.

He hadn't thought of a definite plan, seeing as he didn't usually try to care. It was more like an un-planned thing.

He was so deep in thought of, again, what he would do, that he almost didn't hear Casey mutter a deep, hoarse, and stuttering "yeah?"

He was shocked as suddenly jumped and recovered as he turned the knob to open her door. Realizing that she probably didn't except it to be him, he walked in slowly so she could get used to the idea of him being there. She looked up at him with her eyes all puffy, bloodshot and red. H was slightly taken back at first. He looked at her skin and noticed it was paler and lighter than ever, almost as if she was sick. He eyes looked like she was daydreaming when she stared at him. He felt like she was looking right through him, like he wasn't there.

"If you're just gonna stand there and think of ways to make me feel worse, you can go away."

He listened to her as she spoke, and realized how harsh her voice was. She wasn't doing good and Derek was probably just making her feel worse. He stood there and whispered a few words under his breath, cursing himself for always acting like a jerk, and when he was ready to be a nice person, she wouldn't let him closer to her.

"Casey, no…I wasn't….I'm not….umm…," Derek searched for the proper words to say to this beautiful girl crying in front of him. Married guys always said that it's the saddest thing to watch someone they love break down and cry. Derek finally knew what they meant.

He couldn't stop her tears. He didn't know what was wrong. He felt like his heart broke while he watched her. He knew he shouldn't feel like this, like he liked Casey. _Like _liked her….

He didn't know what else to do, so upon realizing no words were going to fix it, he walked over to her bed and sat behind her. He grabbed her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her neck. He whispered into her ear a light, soft, quiet "Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

He let go as she sniffled and nodded lightly. He grabbed the blanket from behind him and wrapped it around her as he was patient in waiting for an answer. If she was that worked up from whatever it was, it was best not to rush her. He put his hands on her forearms and moved them up and down to warm her and coax her. He was gentle in waiting.

"My dad…," Casey said as she sobbed even louder and continued to cry harder and harder.

Derek knew she wasn't done so he just waited curiously and already feeling the sinking feeling in his stomach that told him that it was terrible. He turned her around so she was facing him on the bed and he touched her chin. He felt a tingle under his finger as he gently lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes.

He saw her pain seeping out of her eyes. She looked like that sad girl that was always in need of someone, but no one ever knew how to help her. She blinked when she saw his eyes. She saw how sad he was for her.

Derek wrapped his arms around Casey and pulled her into a tight, long hug. He played with her hair to calm her nerves. When he pulled away, he told her what he hoped would help, "Case, you can trust me. I promise."

Casey inwardly smiled a little at this. She hoped he would eventually soften up. She didn't what to say, so she muttered the best reply she could. 'Thanks, Derek."

He let go of her as she opened her mouth to speak. Derek hoped he didn't look to anxious so he wouldn't scare her away. She came out with a string of more words that shocked him even more.

"A murderer…the murder movie…my dad…," Casey stuttered even more this time as she said the horrible words.

Derek immediately knew what she was talking about. Casey, Nora, George, and Derek all watched a murder movie last night at ten, right after Lizzie and Edwin went to bed. Casey was acting weird during the movie and now Derek knew why.

He father was murdered. He was never told what happened and Lizzie, Nora, and Casey all acted weird at any mention of him. She must have been very sad. Derek thought that he didn't give her enough credit. She got through school with straight As taking all college prep classes, living in a hectic house by single-handedly working a schedule out, and dealt with Derek all the time. He felt like shit after treating he like that.

Derek would have cracked at some point. He now knew who he admired and wanted to be like, Casey. She was strong, smart, caring, and honest. A great person who didn't deserve what she had to deal with.

Derek, realizing what kind of an ass he had always been, grabbed Casey and hugged for a minute or two, apologizing for being an asshole and treating her horrible.

He felt his bare shoulder get wet with Casey's tears. He pulled away and wiped the water from her face. He saw that her blanket had fallen off and she was now shivering. He wrapped his arms behind her and lifted the blanket up onto her shoulders.

He didn't know what else to do so he moved behind her and let her lay her head on his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair as to get out the tangles.

She tilted her head up towards his and saw him staring at her and smiling. He lied back and she moved over next to him and attempted to stop crying. She didn't know what to think, but she knew that Derek would forever on be nicer to her and she could recover slowly as a new life was opened up with Derek holding open the door for her.

Casey ran her finger over his shoulder, down his chest. Then, she lifted her hand towards his face and rested it on his cheek and ran her other hand through his hair, while slowing her tears. Derek didn't want to hurt her so he let her handle the pace, he waited as patient as possible for her. He wasn't going to take her virginity, but he was ready to tell her the truth.

Fighting always made him happier and anxious. He face was right up in his yelling at him. Teasing her was a classic kindergarten move, pulling the pigtails of the class cutie. Derek had his tricks for getting the girl, but Casey was a hard shell to crack.

She lied her head down again as she slowly stopped crying and Derek reached down to dry of the tears. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. He grabbed one hand and entwined his fingers through hers. His thumb ran across the back of her hand to calm her down and relax her. She was tired and Derek could tell.

Casey finally knew that Derek made a true promise when he told her that she could trust him. She knew he was for real, finally. She raised her face towards his leaned into him, slowly, watching as he did the same, following her lead. She lightly set her lips on his and gave him a light kiss. She stopped and pulled away and looked down. Derek knew that she felt ashamed and he tapped her chin, making her look into his eyes, again. His eyes were sparkling and questioning. She softened up and knew that he didn't mind. She leaned into him more and proceeded to kiss him deeper.

They lied there together kissing as they fell asleep. Derek knew that he knew a secret of her past, and he could help her through.

**A/n:** How was that? I tried not to make it too rushed since Casey was sad and all. Was it too fast? Please review and tell me!


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